KOZHIKODE: Friends of William Gilcher, the American researcher who unravelled the story of two kalaripayattu practitioners from Thalassery who had gone to Australia in search of a job in 1850s, are on a mission to convert the tragic tale of the artistes into a visual form. They have approached the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to undertake the project and help the dream materialise.
“I have appealed to the chairman of the NFDC to extend help in the production of the film, which will have an international appeal”, K Kunhikrishnan, former additional director general of Prasar Bharti, told TNIE. “Earlier, we had contacted actor Mohanlal with a similar request to produce the film but it didn’t materialise,” he said.
William Gilcher is producer/writer at Harmonia Band Communications, at Maryland, USA. “He is very passionate about making the film and has prepared a detailed treatment of the story. We are sure that the film will have a global reach since the story has elements connecting Malabar and Australia,” said Kunhikrishnan, who travelled with Gilcher to Thalassery to meet the descendants of Abdalla, one of the kalaripayattu performers.
Gilcher said he came to know about the two Malayalees Cassim and Abdalla while he was conducting research on his great-great grandfather Michael Gilcher, the musician who worked with the Malayalees at the National Circus, owned by one Henry Burton. “Cassim was the master and Abdalla the disciple.
The kalaripayattu performers mesmerized the audience. The performances were widely reported in newspapers at that time,” Gilcher told TNIE.
Both were sentenced to death in a case related to a murder, and Abdalla was later released. He died probably during the journey or after reaching the destination. “The story of the duo has spectacular visual elements but I am interested in the human angle,” said Gilcher, who is planning to visit Thalassery in December.
K K Marar, painter from Thalassery, too is enthused by the project. “Thalassery is the birthplace of circus. Keeleri Kunhikannan Teacher evolved the basics of circus from kalaripayattu. There were many Muslim families that practised it. The soldiers in the armies of the Arakkal, Kolathiri and Pazhassi Raja were trained in the martial art. The movie thus could be a rich historical document,” Marar said.